Rocky Point captures the 2022 Suffolk Class A Championship !
Dominick Carbone fired a complete game with 12 strikeouts to earn the W
They advance to the Class A Long Island Championship against the winner of Calhoun-Clarke pic.twitter.com/b10JAjErzR
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) May 30, 2022
From the time the 2021 season ended against Harborfields. Rocky Point knew that they had the chance to have a special season in 2022.
“After the first round exit, we knew we would be returning the same team – minus James Maggio, who is doing great for St. Joseph’s. We knew we had the team that could be the last team standing.”
It’s not often a team has the star power that the Rocky Point Eagles had. They didn’t just have “D-I commits”, they had some of the top players in the region. They had three seniors (Sean Hamilton, Nic Benhardt and Cody Miller) that had already established themselves as high-end players, with the reigning League MVP (Dominick Carbone) and a future Division-I commit (AJ Aschettino) on the horizon.
Prior to a non-league game last season, I was behind home plate with one of the parents and asked him if the kids realized how talented their team is, and this gentlemen responded succinctly with, “Oh I think they realize.”
They were dominant from Day 1, compiling an overall record of 23-3. In fact, they went from April 14 until June 4th between losses. In between they captured the League Championship (4th consecutive) and the Suffolk County Championship over reigning champs, Mount Sinai.
“We didn’t just treat the LIC as another game – we legitimately thought we were going upstate,” said Head Coach Anthony Anzalone. But Calhoun had a great day, so kudos to them. We threw every single one of our arms and they still beat us. That just shows they were the better team that day.”
In terms of their graduates, they will have the task of replacing their D-I trio of Cody Miller (East Tennessee), Nic Benhardt (CCSU) and Sean Hamilton (Hofstra). Miller was named Axcess Baseball’s Preseason Player of the Year and if anything, he even exceeded expectations as he was certainly one of the best players in the state and won League MVP and Gold Glove.
Postgame interview with Rocky Point HC Anthony Anzalone following their season opening 2-1 victory over East Islip pic.twitter.com/iASJHbpzTa
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) March 30, 2022
“They were the heart and soul of our program,” said Anzalone. “They came up as young middle schoolers going to our clinics and they looked at each other and said this is what we want to be apart of. Their leadership rubbed off on the younger players. You see the 11th graders who saw all that success. Their motivation comes from within. They understood what the task was.”
Anzalone mentioned that there was three other players who didn’t necessarily receive all the accolades and attention but were pivotal parts of their team – Niko Sorice, Christian Ark and AJ Walker. He added, “they had huge moments for us that propelled us.”
AJ Walker (Rocky Point 2022) starts the day off with an 83 MPH fastball and the Axcess Invitational is underway ! pic.twitter.com/ysOEm6SaGW
— Axcess Baseball LI (@axcessbaseball) July 21, 2022
In terms of returning players, they have the current Axcess Baseball Preseason Player of the Year, Dominick Carbone, who is headed to Coastal Carolina as a two-way player. He is an intense, supremely talented, flame-throwing southpaw that is a weapon in the middle of the lineup. He not only won the League MVP as a sophomore, but was the winning pitcher in the County Finals against Mount Sinai when he fired a 12 K, complete game shutout. For the season, he batted .405 with a .473 OBP, 4 HR, 26 RBIs and on the mound he went 4-0 with a 1.51 ERA, 49 strikeouts and 17 walks.
“Dom goes about his business,” said Anzalone. “I’ve watched him mature tremendously as a person and as a leader. Dom was able to fly under-the-radar and was able to let his play do the talking. But now he’s taken on that leadership role.”
Not to be overlooked is AJ Aschettino. He is the son of former coach, Andrew Aschettino, and recently committed to Northeastern University as a middle infielder. He batted .344 with a .447 OBP and 16 RBIs as a sophomore.
“I’ve seen him relax,” said Anzalone. “There’s a lot of pressure being Asch’s kid but when he came here and settled in he ran with that. He did a great job last year and had a great summer. And now he’s bigger, faster and stronger. He’s poised to have a great season.”
They return infielder Jeremy Graham, who gained valuable experience last season and could very well see a jump in statistical production. They also return senior outfielder Anthony Viggiano, who will be stepping into a larger role.
Three newcomers that coach mentioned were juniors Johnny Bohlman, Justin Bono and Matt Murphy who will all compete for playing time.
The Eagles will look to defend their crown beginning on March 27 when they open up against Mount Sinai in a mandatory non-league game which will count towards playoffs. They also have games against Shoreham-Wading River, Hampton Bays, Miller Place, Sayville and Bayport-Blue Point in the non-league portion of their schedule while their league consists of Comsewogue, East Hampton, Westhampton and Eastport-South Manor.
